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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ev9nov09,0,6347599.story?coll=la-home-business


General Motors Corp., vilified by environmentalists for killing the electric car, is hoping to bring one back.
But the new electric won't be an emissions-free vehicle, unlike the initial GM electric, the EV1.
The new car, to be unveiled as a prototype early next year, would use an onboard internal-combustion engine as a generator to produce electricity to extend the range of the vehicle's rechargeable batteries.





Go GM! :woot:

Wohoo! I hope it's viable! SOMEBODY has to give Honda and Toyota some competition in the innovation game.

Hi Sledge:

___Another nice find!

___A very simple Serial hybrid w/ PHEV capability is what I had hoped to see as a viable Hybrid strategy for a long time. I am glad GM is taking it up. As long as GM uses a very small 30 - 40 HP SULEV rated ICE and allow the pack to have PHEV capability, this could end up being something really special indeed.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The new car, to be unveiled as a prototype early next year, would use an onboard internal-combustion engine as a generator to produce electricity to extend the range of the vehicle's rechargeable batteries.

Uhhh, isn't that kind of like a hybrid? ;) From the company whose CEO said that hybrids were a fad at best? :Banane14:

Anyway, it sounds pretty cool. Hope it happens.

Has anybody ever come across a technical paper or article that talks about the efficiency of a serial hybrid like this? I was thinking about it and I can't decide if this is a vehicle that would work for people who don't have plugs. Efficiency between battery and wheels should be good enough, but what about the conversion losses from mechanical to electric? What kind of gas mileage could you get at a 65mph cruise when the battery goes flat?

This is more or less pulled from my nether regions, but modern
motors and drive electronics seem to be up in the 95% area for
efficiency these days. Discounting mechanical losses, then,
a gennie driving a motor could theoretically do 90% [leave the
battery out in calculating for your scenario] and then there's
the drivetrain. Even the parallel-hybrid Prius has *some* amount
of its energy taking an electrical hop, although it's a smaller
fraction of what a series hybrid would have to shunt around
so it delivers a little more of the benefit of direct drive.
.
Now, I could be totally wrong about the 95% and might just be
thinking of inverters. The battery charge/discharge loop
definitely eats at least 10% if it comes into play, though..
.
The PHEV angle makes this all much more interesting, of course.
.
_H*

Hi Tim:

___To go along with Hobbits angle, a serial hybrid’s drive system usually has to be larger then an equivalent performance Parallel hybrid system. Think of a 40 HP MGSet and a 75 HP ICE in a parallel design vs. a 100 HP MGSet in the Series solution. This means a larger and heavier MGSet for propulsion and a pack with current capabilities far beyond that of the current Prius/HiHy/FEH/RXh etc. NiMH’s in use today. Although the small ICE and large MGSet’s are separate and distinct power trains which themselves are not that overly heavy and complex, a serial hybrid would also be designed so that the ICE and pack would feed that large MGSet at the same time for burst accel’s. That larger and heavier MGSet along with a much higher current flow pack to feed it makes the system less then optimal vs. a smaller component based parallel system from my understanding.

___I would still love to see that .5L SULEV rated ICE with a PHEV capable pack under the hood of lets say a Fit/Yaris/Aveo/Focus sized automobile with a serial design. A lot of the integration headaches (patents) that Toyota has locked up could be maneuvered around and I would hope the system would be a not only easier to work on but also less expensive overall because of its simplicity and very small ICE.

___As for fuel efficiency at 65 mph, imagine a smallish 2 cylinder - .5 L ICE at maybe 40 - 50% throttle cruising down the highway vs. an I4 based - 2.4L running at 15% throttle doing the same. There is something to be said for small ICE’s when it comes to huge fuel efficiency gains at steady state cruise.

___Just my random thoughts anyway?

___Good Luck

___Wayne